Things can only get better
by Griff95
Summary: This story was inspired by Pride and Prejudice, it is my first fan fiction, please read and review.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

As I sat there looking up the river watching the ducks swimming I reflected on the turn of events that had happened these past few months. I had lost my family in a house fire and had lost all that I own with it. After the fire I closed myself off from the rest of the world and had been living rough however that was through the summer months I now suspect that the winter will be a lot harder to get through.

So now I have put together a plan I'm going to walk to one of the neighboring villages and try to find some work with accommodation and then see where life takes me. Before setting off I wash in the river and try to tidy up my dress in hope that I look presentable enough for someone to hire me.

I walked down the road staring up to the sky, it was becoming cloudy and dark, I hoped it would not rain yet as there was not much shelter and I had another mile to walk till I got to the village. At that point a carriage being pulled by two beautiful white horses rushed by, I jumped into the ditch just before I would have been trampled, by the look of the carriage it was someone with a lot of money inside, most probably a lord.

As I reached the village people where lining the streets. "What's going on" I asked one of the people waiting, "The kings soldiers are on parade."

"oh I see thank you" I said as I walked away not giving it a second thought after all I had more important things on my mind today.

I glanced into a shop window checking my appearance, jumping into that hedge had not treated my dress well it now had a small tear in the skirt which I would not be able to repair till I got some money so I was just going to have to do. I entered the shop where I was greeted by a rather large cheerful gentleman who was stood behind the counter. I knew him from when I had visited the village before he had a wife and two kids and he was called Percy Jones I helped his wife with there young children when she was ill after the birth, however it was obvious that he did not recognise me when I entered the shop, mind last time I had visited I had been dressed in my best clothes and had my hair done up, a lot had changed since then. Mr Jones turned to me and said "is there anything I can help you with my dear"

I decided this was as good an opportunity as ever and asked "I have come to enquire whether you have any work openings here or if you know of anyone who may have some employment for me?"

Percy replied with "I'm sorry love I'm fully staffed here and do not know of anyone in the village who is looking for employees, you could try the Bennett's who live in the big house at the other end of the village, they were looking for someone at the start of someone but that position may have gone by now"

"Okay thank you Mr Jones"

"Hang on one minute, do I know you"

"Yes well you may not remember me I'm Amanda Bingley"

" Gosh we all thought you had died, where ever have you been child everyone here's been worried about you, come thought to the back let me get you a drink"

"Please sir don't let me inconvenience you"

"This is nothing of the sort; you helped my wife so much when she was ill, when we heard you had gone missing after the fire we were worried sick about you, now come thought to the house this instance."

As I walked thought to the back of the shop into the kitchen I was greeted by a wall of warmth as well as Mrs Jones "Whoever have we got here then Percy"

"Take a close look Elizabeth; it's someone you know very well"

Mrs Jones looked at me taking in every detail, then suddenly it hit her "Amanda" she shouted before walking towards me and hugging me, at that point a wave of emotion hit me, I burst into tears and she just held me tight till I had stopped crying, she then wiped away my tears and took me thought to the drawing room where she sat me down by the fire before going and getting two cups of tea and some cake.

She set the tray down on the table and offered me some cake, which I took happily, I had not eaten a lot, only the food I could find which mainly was berries that I had found in the bushes by the river. Elizabeth looked up at me, "where have you been Mandy, I've missed you"

"I, I, I just needed time to think, o work out what to do, I was scared and well just wanted to be by myself for some time, and then well time passed and I just sat thinking for a while, but I decided today that it was time to move on and make something of myself, that's why I came to the village, so I could look for work."

"where are you staying at the moment"

"Umm well I was hoping I would find somewhere when I found some work"

"Well from now on you shall stay here"

"are you sure a would hate to be a burden"

" Of course I'm sure, you helped me so much when I was ill and you would not except payment, well this is my payment to you, you had my back when I needed you so now I will help you when you need it"

"oh thank you so much, I promise I will not stay long"

"Nonsense Amanda this is your home now, now I will run a hot bath for you and find you some clean clothes" With that she ushered me into the bathroom and poured water into the tub. After my bath Lizzy gave me some clean clothes, I was starting to look more like the old me, Lizzy showed me to my room where I would be staying, she had convinced her two children to share, which I think they were quite excited about, when the eldest child John saw me he ran towards me and gave me a big hug saying "I've missed you Mandy" the youngest was only 1 and a half so therefore clung to her mother as she did not recognize me. As we walked back downstairs ready for our evening meal John was telling me about how he had seen the soldiers march by from the upstairs window, and one day he was going to be like them. I smiled to myself I had missed the company of others a lot over these past few months.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The next morning I woke at around seven, I had had a good night's sleep and could have stayed in bed forever but today was the day I needed to get my life back together, and also there was a little knock at the door, John entered the room "Mandy would you like some breakfast, mummy said to come and ask you"

"Yes please John I will come now"

John left the room and ran down the stairs, I changed into my clothes and walked down the stairs into the dining room, I said good morning before taking my seat at the table, as we were eating there was a knock at the door. Mr Jones got up and left the room to answer it, when he re-entered the room he handed a envelope to Elizabeth before turning to me and explaining that it was an invitation to the ball up at the manor, to celebrate Lord Christopher's son turning the age of 21, and that everyone in the village was invited. "We must go" said Elizabeth "you too Amanda"

"But I have no money and no dresses which are suitable for a ball"

"Don't you worry about that, I will sort something out for you, you may not know this but business picked up a lot since the last time we saw you so we have plenty of money now"

"oh, are you sure thought, im sure your money has better uses"

"nonsense, you shall go to the ball, and let this be the last said about it"

"thank you so much, I will pay you back every penny as soon as I can"

That afternoon we went to the dressmakers to get our dresses made for the ball, I choose an ivory fabric with a lacy pattern on the sleeves and skirt. The dress maker took my measurements, and told me to come back in a couple of days for the final adjustments on the dress.

After that me and Lizzy left and took a walk around the village, we talked for a while about the ball, I had met lord Christopher's son before, when we were young, he was 2 years older than me and, well let just say we hadn't got on to well, he was arrogant and obviously thought he was above the rest of us, however I was hoping for a good night out and I think this is going to be the only chance I have of one.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Today is the day of the ball, and everyone in the village is talking about it, Lizzy and I collected our dresses earlier, and they both look beautiful, we decide to start doing our hair, I have mine gripped up with a few gentle curls hanging down each side of my head, Percy knocks on the door and brings in some flowers that the children have picked, they look beautiful, Lizzy takes them and carefully entwines it into my hair, they look so delicate and beautiful, once we have finished our hair we change into our dresses, I tell Liz that I will meet her and Percy downstairs once I have changed.

As I leave the room in my beautiful dress I glance down the stairs were Liz and Percy where waiting. Liz says to me "Oh Amanda you look beautiful"

"Thank you Liz you also look amazing"

I smiled to myself, I had a good feeling about tonight. Percy glanced out the window and announced that the carriage was here.

As we drew up to the manor, I could see several other carriages with men stood there directing people on where to go, the manor looked amazing, the flowers growing in the driveway where beautiful. When the carriage came to a halt the footman opened the door and helped us down, I stood there for a moment taking in my surroundings before following Elizabeth and Percy into the manor, as we entered I could hear the sweet music above the sound of people talking and laughing.

We were greeted at the door to the main ballroom by Lord Christopher and his wife Lady Amelia. I curtsied as I was introduced to them and thanked them for inviting me. As we entered into the main ball room people where dancing, clapping and generally having a good time I wondered over to one of the chairs at the side of the room, as Liz and Percy went to catch up with some of their old friends. When I looked around I spotted a familiar face looking straight at me, it was Alice, we had known each other from childhood and she was my best friend, I rose to my feet and walked towards her, straight away she walked towards me and enclosed me in a hug, nearly in tears she said to me, "Where have you been, I've missed you so much"

"I know I'm sorry" I replied "I didn't mean to stay away for so long I just needed some time to myself"

"Oh well thank god your hear now, where are you living at the moment"

"I'm with the Jones they took me in when I came to the village a week ago" I glanced towards her hand, there was something different about her, then I noticed she had a ring on her wedding finger.

Lifting her hand up I said "would you like to fill me in on what's been going on while I haven't been around"

"Well since you left I got engaged and married to Mr Morgan"

"oh wow Alice, Congratulations" I said with a big smile on my face

"thank you, now lets go have a proper catch up" With that Alice took my hand and led me over to where Mr Morgan was sitting where we sat and had a proper catch up.

A few moments later the music stopped and all attention was brought to a man who was stood at the top of the stairs "I would like you all to welcome his lordships son William Dubois, and will you all please raise your glasses to wish him a very happy 21st birthday, I quickly took a glass off the tray being held by one of the servants, before the whole room raised there glass to William Dubois.

William Dubois had changed a lot since we had last met, well it was 10 years ago, He was a tall well-built muscular man, probably from all the leisure sports he takes part in as I doubt he had ever done an honest day's work in his life, he had a handsome face and dark brown hair, he was well dressed and had an air about him, he walked down the stairs gracefully and the music started up again. There was a queue of young lady's hoping to meet him and maybe even dance with him.

As he reached the bottom of the stairs he looked straight at me, I felt something overwhelm me, I needed some fresh air. I quickly turned and headed for the door, once outside I grabbed the handrail at the top of the patio which looked out over the glorious gardens, I took a deep breath, don't know what was wrong with me, it was something to do with the way he looked at me, it's as if he could see straight into my sole, it felt like my heart had skipped a beat.

I turned away from the garden and headed back into the room, Alice came over to me and asked me if I was okay, I told her I had just gone a bit light headed, it must be the alcohol, but I felt fine now. As I resumed my seat at the side of the room I looked out over the dance floor, William Dubois was dancing now with one of the girls who had been waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs, she had a big smile on his face and did not take his eyes off her, he on the other hand was looking anywhere but at her, my guess was she was not going to be his future wife.

When the music finished they bowed to each other before he walked over to his father who had another young lady who was waiting to dance, this time however I could tell that he was saying no from the look on the lady's face, she looked like she might burst into tears then and there. How can a woman get so upset over a man like that? I mean sure he is handsome, but he seems so arrogant. After watching this scene I got up and headed towards the door, I did not feel like dancing so there was no point waiting inside for someone to ask me.

As I reached the door I glanced back to see William Dubois making his way thought the crowd towards me, I decided to keep walking as I reached the garden there where several candles lighting up the pathway, it looked magical, it was like something out of a story book, I wondered slowly along the path, a tear rolled down my cheek, I missed my family so much, I wished they were here with me, My little sister would have loved this. I used to make up stories and tell them her before she went to bed, I could have set so many stories' here…

I arrived at a small shelter, there roses growing up the side of it and a bench inside, I sat down on the bench looking down at my lap thinking of some of the stories that I used to tell my sister another tear rolled down my cheek. To think of the girls in the ball room getting all upset because they didn't get asked to dance, if only they knew what real pain felt like, I looked at my wrist, there is still a small scar from where I got my arm trapped in the fire, I was just lucky enough that some brave soul pulled me out, I've know idea who it was as I had passed out from inhaling to much smoke, and I never asked as well I never really thought about it, I was too struck with grief to even care who had saved my life.

As I was lost deep in thought I had not noticed another person arriving, Suddenly I was bought back to reality by a man clearing his throat, I looked up to see William Dubois stood in front of me, I quickly wiped the tears from my face and stood up and curtsied.


End file.
